The Toronto Student Transportation Group is an initiative between both the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Toronto District School Board. Our goal is to ensure the health and safety of our students through various modes of transportation and to help families make informed decisions regarding their transportation choices when accessing education here in Toronto.
Spotlight
Winter is Coming
Winter has arrived and with it inclement weather that may force the closure of schools and/or the cancellation of bus service. Staff in Transportation Services are on alert when snow storms are forecasted. Early in the morning Consortium transportation staff review if roads are passable, and the current and predicted temperatures & weather conditions across the City. Contact is made with bus carriers regarding concerns they may have regarding road conditions for the safety of their drivers and possibility of buses not starting due to extreme cold temperatures. A decision is made regarding the cancellation of bus service and a 
recommendation is made to the Directors of both Boards who ultimately make the decision to cancel transportation. When inclement weather is forecasted parents should listen to radio & television stations for a public service announcement which will inform parents about school closures and transportation cancellations.
Parents & schools can check the TDSB, TCDSB, or TSTG web sites to see if a notice has been posted regarding cancellation of transportation or contact the bus carrier directly to find out if bussing has been cancelled. Bus delays are reported on the Consortium website and are updated by our transportation providers on an on-going basis. If parents are concerned about inclement weather, they have the right to keep their child at home (especially in the case of medically fragile students or students who currently are on the bus for extended length of time) even if transportation is not cancelled by the School Board. The travel time for students may easily double or triple depending on how the weather has impacted traffic in the city. Children should be dressed appropriately for the colder weather, in the event of an unexpected mechanical problems with the bus which may occur more frequently at this time of the year. You can also review more information on Winter Safety at Bus Stops on the TDSB, TCDSB, TSTG web site on the Transportation page.
Current News
We welcome November with a few outstanding school bus routes without drivers. Many bus routes that had driver issues have been resolved with new drivers coming on line each week. However, the following schools continue to be impacted by school bus driver shortage (as of November1st, 2019):
OLO Victory – 759PM
St Margaret – 705AM, 713PM
OLO Assumption – 713PM
St Cyril – 713AM
St Robert – 713AM, 760PM, 775PM
St Norbert – 702AM
St Antoine Daniel – 705AM
Rawlinson – 765AM
Roseland – 759PM
Some mini bus service is also impacted at a few schools across the city. Taxi service has been utilized where parental consent has been received to service those students so there is no disruption to service.
Although a number of new drivers are starting service each week there is a similar number of drivers leaving the industry, which has slowed down the process of ensuring a driver in every seat. The bus companies are doing their best to minimize the delays and they have been instructed to keep the delay portal updated as best as possible. We will send out automated phone calls periodically to provide updates to those impacted and we encourage parents to check in with the bus operator periodically as well to get updates on their driver recruitment efforts. We do hope that this will be addressed as soon as possible and we are sorry that this service disruption has impacted so many families.
CUPE and Provincial government have a tentative agreement. As such, buses will be running on Monday October 7th. Please monitor the transportation portal for delays as buses have been moved off site which may contribute to longer then normal delays.
Information
- Parent Letter August 30 2019
- Parent Letter August 27 2019
- TSTG Spring 2019 Newsletter
- TSTG Fall 2018 Newsletter
- New parent guide to transportation
- Safety Guide for School Children & Parents
- Access To Education
- Parent Safety Program (Kiss n Ride)
- Preparing Your Child for Using Public Transit Safely
- Purple Equals Parent Program
- Transportation Brochure
- Transportation Brochure For Students With Special Needs
- Safe Streets Guide 2016
- TSTG Policy Operation Manual revised 2018
- Toronto Effectiveness and Efficiency Report 2011
- Auditor General Report 2015
- Ontario Ombudsman Report on Student Transportation
Fast Facts
- Number of buses: 1816
- Number of students transported: 56,617
- Total distance traveled: 71,241 km
- Annual budget: $90 M
- Number of carriers: 7
- Change requests each September: 1400
